Losing Tradition

As we were discussing the progress of technology the other day in class, the first thing that came to mind was music. Today, most people either buy music on iTunes or "share" music on databases like Limewire or Kazaa. There are still people that go out and buy CD's at music stores, but those numbers have decreased substantially. In an article in the New York Times today, it discussed a court case involving the illegality of "sharing" music. Nesson, a professor at Boston University, argued that "the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional because it effectively lets a private group -- the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA -- carry out civil enforcement of a criminal law" (New York Times). To me, "sharing" music does sound illegal, but it is very difficult to stop. The problem of money is not necessarily what bothers me however; it is more the loss of our traditional ways of supporting our favorite artists. As a result of sharing music, we are unable to do so.

Stereotyping on Grey's Anatomy

Last week on Grey's Anatomy, there was a stereotype on the show I was very surprised to see. He was an old Native American man who was in desperate need of a heart transplant and had been waiting for a heart for years. On this week's show, he finally reached the top of the donor list and was offered a new healthy heart, but he refused the offer. He felt having someone else's heart in his chest was like burying someone else's soul in his and felt as though he would be haunted forever. Throughout the show, he spoke to one of the doctors of ghosts and certain rituals one could do in order to get rid of them. As I watched this, my first thought was "how could the writers be so stereotypical?" However as the show went on, I noticed that they included another character who was not Native American who was seeing ghosts as well. Did they do this to set off the stereotype or were they simply including this man to enhance the plot?

Palin is Punk'd

This Saturday on the Canadian radio station, CKOI, Sarah Palin was "punk'd" as they say on MTV. The two radio show hosts, known as "The Masked Avengers" called Sarah Palin pretending to be the French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Palin surprisingly remained on the line for seven minutes. As they were talking, the Sarkozy impersonator spoke incorrectly on several important issues, but Palin did not stop to correct him. It seemed to me that she was simply trying to be polite, but as I read the comments attached to her radio clip, it was apparent that many people disagreed. For example, when the impersonator mentioned the Canadian Prime Minister and mentioned him using the wrong name, Palin did not correct him. In the many other comments made by the Sarkozy impersonator similar to this one, Palin did not provide the response people felt was "professional". Their comments were all very critical: "She revealed an incredible lack of insight, knowledge, and ability to read a situation" "not ready for prime-time" "bone-chillingly-arrogantly-breathtakingly ignorant".

After hearing this radio clip I started to wonder why the United States does not have a system for voting for the vice-president. I am not trying to say that Palin should not have been allowed to run with McCain as vice-president. Reading everyone's comments just made me wonder. As of now, the President is allowed to chose his/her own vice president. In the Constitution, the only mention of the vice-president is that he/she is the president of the senate. Should there be an amendment for voting for the vice-president or is it unnecessary?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/11/palin-punkd-by.html